Back in the day — the day when ladies were admitted to the Westport Y only after ringing the doorbell at a small entrance on Main Street (and even then they were allowed only into a small knitting room) — men swam naked in the pool.
It took a while to break the habit, after women received full membership. Men routinely walked out of the locker room nude. Their saunters were interrupted by females, who were no doubt delighted surprised at the perks their new membership brought.
That’s the kind of tale that gets told at Ambassador Club meetings.
Once a year, the Westport Weston Family Y honors its Ambassadors — anyone who has been a Y member for 25 years or more — with a lunch. The food is one draw, but story-swapping is much more important.
The original Westport YMCA -- now called the Bedford Building.
This year’s event — the 4th annual — is set for Thursday (Sept. 16), 12 noon in the Bedford Room. (Many Ambassadors remember when that room — in the building of the same name — was the true center of the Y. Some may even remember Edward T. Bedford, the local philanthropist who founded the Y in 1923.)
The luncheon draws around 100 people a year — men and women.
All are fully clothed.
(If you have been a member of the Y — any Y, actually — for at least 25 years, and want to attend the lunch, contact Joan Vitali by phone at 203-226-8981, ext. 178, or email: jvitali@westporty.org.)
I’ve heard stories that back in the day, Westporters got mail twice a day. In the early 1900s — before the widespread adoption of telephones — people here communicated by sending postcards to each other.
BCEAF offsets some of the expenses other human services charities might not consider. For the past 4 years it has offered grants for expenses such as rent, utilities, specialty bras, babysitting and transportation to doctors’ appointments.
